Preparation:

Cut off the head of the sardines, remove scales and clean carefully.Open the sardines and remove fishbones, taking care to leave the fillets attached.Wash the flattened fillets and let water drip off.

Brown the breadcrumbs in a little oil in a saucepan.

Step 2

Once brown, add chopped anchovies, pine kernels, and raisins which were previously soaked in water.

Step 3

Add chopped parsley to the mixture, crushed bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper. The mixture should be well blended but not too liquid.

Step 4

On the oven tray place a tin mould lined with grease proof paper.

Step 5

Place sardine fillets inside the tin mould pressing them evenly to the sides.

Step 6

Pour the mixture into the mould.

Step 7

Press the mixture lightly down and cover it by joining the sardines. In oven at 180°C for 10 minutes.

Step 8

Serve the dish after seasoning with oil and parsley, accompanied with the mint sauce and the vegetable tartare (with the raw vegetables finely chopped).

Consigli dello chef:

Although this recipe is quite demanding, it can be offered as a main course.In fact, starch is present in the breadcrumbs and in the sardines (edible part equal to 70%) rich in water, phosphorus, calcium, iron and vitamin A with 1.5 g glucide per 100g and 4.5 g lipids per 100 g product, which make is a rich and well-balanced dish.

Food History:

This is a traditional Sicilian recipe and recalls the name of the bird which eats figs, and the stuffing is abundant. The sardines are stuffed with a sour-sweet stuffing, which gives them the name ‘a beccafìcu’, like the bird.